The US now has the highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.2%. Of course, almost no U.S. corporation pays that rate or anything close to it.. Lest we forget, however, pity them the huge sums they pay to influence regulators and politicians, not to mention the millions more spent on PACs to delude and confuse voters (i.e. sheep). 

On the other hand, the US ranks 37^th for the highest marginal tax rate –the tax rate that most people pay after qualifying for their…

Fahreed Zakaria, wrote in a Washington Post blog today that President Obama’s decision to rule out ‘containment’ as a US policy option on Iranian nuclear weapons, “might prove a serious error: It boxes in the United States, limits Obama’s options and forces him on a path that could push him into an unnecessary, preventive war.”

He is generally such a thoughtful person, looking at issues from every perspective before deciding which…

If I weren't thoroughly disgusted, I'd be happy.

Lest we forget, in the end, G.W. Bush will go down as democracy's "Phlegyas" - the ferryman who escorts souls across the Styx to Hades. With an ersatz crusade against non-existent WMD, and the appointment of zombie jurists to the Supreme Court, "Phlegyas" W. Bush delivered the soul of democracy (personhood) to a stateless, soulless cleptocracy. "Mission accomplished!"

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"There is something unholy about them," said Guy P. Wyser-Pratte, a prominent longtime Wall Street trader and investor. "that is what cause this tremendous volatility. They make a fortune whereas the public gets so whipsawed by this trading." ("Clamping Down on High-Speed StockTrades," …

I published a number of reports in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island disaster in Pennsylvania (USA), examining the crisis response that surrounded nuclear accident. The response in Japan, given the utter chaos that ensued from cascading multiple events, was an outstanding performance. It was not perfect, but it incorporated many of the lessons learned from earlier, less well handled, catastrophes. Ultimately, these lesson will help us cope with the next set of chaotic events whether…

Egypt, is a study in the dynamics of chaos. First, it seems to have been a ‘surprise’ to everyone. Second, ‘no one knows what to do about it.’ Third, everyone is thrashing around grasping at straws in a windstorm.

Chaos is a form of disorder that produces more patterns than human reason can cope with. Nonetheless, the solution is somewhere in those emerging patterns and structures (sometimes called fractals). At this moment three residual structures are crumbling into chaos…